ta

«ta» in Mova's school dictionary: «thank you»: «Ta, mate.» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

interjection (ta — informal, UK, Australia, NZ); also an abbreviation in some uses

meaning for a pupil

1) (UK, Australia, NZ, informal) Ta means «thank you»: «Ta, mate.» tree →

2) «Ta-ta» (informal, UK) means «goodbye», often said to small children. tree →

3) As a fragment, «ta» can be part of a longer word, or short for «teaching assistant» (TA) in schools. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday clipped talk in Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, people say «ta» or «ta very much» for small favours. In stories it shows a friendly, casual speaker. In US and UK schools a TA is a teaching assistant who helps the teacher.

examples

• «Here's your pencil.» «Ta!» tree →
• Ta for the lift, Mum. tree →
• Ta very much, that's lovely. tree →
• Say ta-ta to Granny! tree →
• Ta, mate, I owe you one. tree →
• Our TA helps us with reading every morning. tree →

note

Very informal; in formal writing or exams use «thank you». It is said quickly and briefly. «Cheers» is another casual UK/Australian way to say thanks. As an abbreviation, «TA» is written in capitals.

In the corpora

• Jake mumbles «ta».
• Next day Dean mutters «ta» (thanks) and leaves him alone.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «ta» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.